And someone in the comments section mentioned that the primary ingredient was something called Glucomannan which, when i looked it up, seemed to have an actual real effect on weight loss.

So I did a bit of research and I bought some in powder form which is easily made up into a drink, or mixed with other food. And was also a LOT cheaper than the drink.

I only ordered it today so obviously I haven't got it yet, but in the interests of research when I start taking it I shall keep a record of my efforts here. Please note I will also be calorie counting and exercising as I normally would when i try to lose weight, but it'll be interesting to see if I manage to lose more than normal, and also feel less hungry than normal.

My normal weight loss seems to average at about 1.5 lb a week once it settles so anything more than 2 would be good.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

Weight loss. 1 lb so far.
I lost 1 lb overnight, which is good, but as we all know, the first few days tend to result in a larger loss than normal.

Calories: 1206.
My downfall is evening wine and nibbling. I tend to be quite good during the day, I have a small breakfast and lunch and a normal evening meal, but then I hit the wine bottle and the nibbles. So I had my normal meals, and I was strict with myself. No wine, and no nibbles. By the time I went to bed my stomach was growling audibly. I'm hoping that when I start the Glucamannan, that will stop, and I won't have the urge to nibble.

Exercise: 5.05 miles
I was good yesterday, I downloaded a pedometer onto my phone. Did 2.42 miles walking the dog, then did C25K week 1 in my bedroom. I know that sounds daft, but I do it in front of the TV watching an episode of Star Trek. I do the walking parts marching up and down in front of the TV, and alternating with side steps, and the running parts again back and forward in front of the TV. The workout only lasted 34 minutes and an episode of Star Trek is 45, so I just marched and stepped for the final eleven minutes. It probably isn't as good as a real workout, but I don't have to get out in the cold, and it's certainly as good as those workouts you do in front of videos. Then I worked out how many steps I had done according to the pedometer, and plugged it into here: http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/StepDistance.html

This gave me an equivalent distance of 2.3 miles. Then, you have to add on the steps walking round the house. According to the pedometer, I did 11891 steps yesterday in total, which converts to 5.05 miles.

I do have a treadmill which cost quite a lot of money, and I used to keep it in a little snug I had off the kitchen in our old house. But at the new house there is nowhere to put it so it's in the garage. So marching up and down the bedroom it is.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

Weight loss. 1.6 lb so far.
Another 0.6 gone this morning. I do love the early days when it drops off so quickly. I just wish it all went like that. Then I'd be at goal by 5th February!

Calories: 1343.
Meh - gave in to the nibble craving last night. Had my normal meals then later on had a slice of bread with the crusts cut off and a scraping of Utterly Butterly, which was 99 cals, then later on again a packet of Quavers which was 88 cals. I try to keep my calories as close to 1200 as possible, but so long as they are under 1500 I don't panic. Although I wouldn't want to push it to the 1500 every day. But I am hoping that the Glucomannan will quell the snacking cravings. Went to bed again last night with a growly tummy. Hoping that will go too.

Exercise: 5.05 miles
Did 2.43 miles walking the dog, then did C25K week 1 again in my bedroom watching Star Trek. This time I added three more jogging intervals, which upped my calories a little. I know it's working because I could feel it in my muscles, and at the end I was quite sweaty. But I can also feel that's it's not as bad as doing it for real, which is actually better as I'm more likely to stick with it. Did the equivalent of 2.35 miles this time. I don't know accurate it is, but it's something to work with. And as I don't eat back my exercise calories, it doesn't really matter.

Did 12912 steps yesterday in total, which converts to 5.48 miles.

My Glucomannan is due to be delivered today between 13:53 and 14:53 so I shall have some before dinner tomorrow and see what a difference it makes.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

I wasn't sure how to take it. On the packet it said to mix with food and take three times a day, but on the website I bought it from, it says to take it with plenty of water to ensure it reaches the stomach. So I suppose to follow both directions you'd mix it with food and drink plenty of water on the side.

Also on the internet I have read to make it up into a drink and drink an hour before eating.

Well, I had literally just finished lunch - a nice healthy salad - when the packet came. I think the point of eating it with or before food is so you feel full and don't eat so much. But as my salad was carefully weighed out and I ate it all, I figured if I take it now, it will fill me up so I don't feel like snacking during the afternoon.

So I made up a glass of peach squash with water and sprinkled it in.

I'm not sure "water-soluble" is correct. It all kind of collected in the bottom in a gooey mess rather than mixing evenly with the water. It certainly absorbed the water but some of it stuck to the sides and bottom so when I had finished it I had to swish more water round in the glass and drink that to get as much of it as I could.

I'll have to experiment how best to take it.

I am very excited. I'm fine with weighing out and calorie counting my meals. I don't struggle with that at all. What I struggle with is snacking and feeling hungry between meals and in the evening. So if I can feel comfortably full on my normal meals, or even make my normal meals a little less without suffering, then this should be a breeze.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

That's another 1.6 lb gone overnight!! Water? Possibly. Coincidence? Possibly. But I don't care - I'm happy! It'll probably stay the same for a week now and depress me.

Calories: 1294.
Friday night is pizza night in our house. Pre-weight loss I would normally have half a large pizza (900 cals) plus garlic dough balls (600 cals). Yeah, I know - that's why i was overweight. We still had pizza tonight but this time I only had 1/3 of a large pizza, which is only 600 cals. I took my glucomannan an hour beforehand. When I had finished my two slices, which I enjoyed, I sat and watched everyone else finishing off theirs and I must confess, I could have eaten another slice. But it's hard to distinguish between wanting food because you're hungry, and wanting food just because it tastes nice. I didn't feel hungry., In fact, I didn't really feel hungry even before I had it. but isn't that the problem with us chubbies? We eat even when we don't feel hungry. That's the habit we have to break. If I was really determined to overeat, I don't think the glucomannan would make any difference at all.

My daughter left a slice of her pizza, and I didn't eat it - I put it in the bin and put washing up liquid on it.

So, for the rest of the evening I was curious to see how I would feel. I had a vague urge to snack, but again that's just the habit, like when smokers feel the need for something in their hands. But, most importantly, no growly tummy!! And I was particularly watching out for that.

Exercise: 4.25 miles
Did 2.39 miles walking the dog, but I didn't do the C25K week this time. Partly because I didn't have time and partly because I had a busy day today and I knew I'd be doing a lot of walking anyway. I went grocery shopping and to a couple of other shops and did a pile of ironing which involves stepping from the board to the individual piles, to the pile to be ironing, over and over again. I watched my Star Trek during that instead. Pedometer says I still managed 11,000 steps, which is still over my target of 10K so I am happy.

superchick36 - I haven't noticed any bloating yet. I did feel a bit porky after tea, but the jeans I was wearing were new in the sale and were a bit tight when I bought them, and still are a bit tight so I put it down to that. But it's early days yet - I'll keep an eye out for any bloating.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

Calories: 1152
My partner came round for tea yesterday and we had fajitas. Well, my own version of non-spicy fajitas anyway, which is a tortilla, lettuce, chicken dippers (Bird's Eye so I know they're pure chicken breast) and mild salsa sauce. Other people can put whatever they want - he likes tomato and cucumber on his, but my girls have them with ketchup - lol. Normally I would have two but last night I only had one, so it was only 323 calories so my cals are way down.

Then he sat and ate quavers and sweeties while we watched Here Comes the Boom. I had calories left so I indulged and had a packet of quavers too, then he fed me every other sweetie while he ate his way through two packets. Why I didn't say no, I don't know. But they are only tiny snack-sized packets so when I weighed a whole packet this morning, I had only eaten 30g which is about 100 cals, which I had to spare. But I didn't need 30g of pure sugar and I didn't really want it.

No growly tummy again

Exercise: 3.42 miles
Did 2.42 miles walking the dog again, but I didn't do the C25K week again - too busy and also my 6-year-old daughter and I have just finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so I said we could watch the film this afternoon, which we did. Pedometer says 8,052 steps, below my daily target, but my average is still over 10,000 so I guess I can have a lazy day every now and again if I stick with it the rest of the week.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

Calories: 1606 (that's probably why)
Well, I had half a packet of fresh pasta in the fridge which needed eating up, and with sauce that came to 727. I probably would have been okay if it hadn't been for the 2 packets of quavers I had later. I don't know why I had them. I didn't want them. But it makes up for the lo-cal day yesterday.

No growly tummy again

Exercise: 4.85 miles
Only did 1.8 miles walking the dog today. I had to take my little girl with me as my eldest had gone to a friend's house. She can't walk as far as I can so we do a shorter walk. But I did my C25K. Pedometer says 11,428 steps, which is good.

I would say that so far, the GM is doing what it says. I'm not really hungry most of the day, although I am ready for my dinner when it comes. I need to get out of the evening snacking habit. And it really is a habit. I don't feel hungry, and I know I don't need it. Today was the first day back to normal routine - early start as the kids were back at school - well one of them anyway. I have been taking the Xmas decorations down all morning and when it came to lunchtime I hardly noticed. Normally I get hungry niggles starting about 10.30 - but today I was fine. So I do think it is working. Just need to get those numbers moving down.

Side-effects: When I was making dinner last night, I got a niggly pain around my waistline, round the front and the sides. it wasn't very bad, just enough to make me go, "Ooh, that hurts." When I was reading the studies, it did say that some people had intermittent gastric pain, but that it settled after a few days. So I'll keep an eye on it.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

I read the same thing about the gastric/stomach pain and or slight discomfort. I purchased a bottle of glucomannan pills that I will try before lunch today. I heard that some people open the capsules and drink it like you would the powder.

0 gone overnight again. Grrr. It has to shift soon. I am expecting a drop tomorrow (fingers crossed). I will be happy with a weight loss of 2 lb a week from week 2 onwards but the first week is usually pretty good so I was hoping for more than I've got, especially with the GM.

Calories: 1184
I did all the right things yesterday and my average calories since the start are 1301, which is fine.

I haven't had a growly tummy in the evenings at all since I started taking it but I had one this morning for some reason.

I did an experiment today. I took a dose of GM and put it in a small glass of water as I usually take it, but instead of drinking it, I left it for a few minutes. I thought it might turn into a sort of syrupy texture as quite often there is a lot stuck to the sides of the glass and I have to sort of scrape it off with my finger which is why I use a small liqueur glass instead of a water glass, so I can reach the bottom with my finger. I thought perhaps it might be easier to take. Well, when I came back to it, it was solid!! It had turned into a sort of gelatinous pudding, and it tasted NASTY, bland and icky. But if it does that in your stomach I can see how it makes you feel full. So I just threw it away and took the dose normally. Also, no tummy pain today, which is good.

superchick36 - I read somewhere that taking it in capsule form isn't advised as there have been cases where the capsule split open in the oesophagus and caused the GM to swell within the oesophagus instead of the stomach, causing blockages. I always take it with a small glass of water, then wash it down with a large glass.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly

superchick36 - did a little more research on the whole capsule thing, and I was wrong. It is the tablet form of GM that can stick to the oesophageal tissues and swell within the gullet, not the capsule form. From what I just read, the capsules are as safe as the powder, although you still need to wash it down with plenty of water. Sorry if I panicked you.

"Look at these people who run marathons. What makes them different to you?...
They have the same bones and muscles as you, the same sinews and organs...
you can do anything you want to, be anything you want to. The only thing stopping you is you!”
~ Money Can't Buy Me Love, by Julie Reilly